France says that the United States refused to enter the French world on views on Trump’s policies
A French scientist was prevented from entering the United States this month due to an opinion on the Trump administration’s policies on academic research, according to the French government.
Philip Babetst, Minister of Higher Education and Research in France, described the move as worrying.
“Freedom of opinion, free research and academic freedom are values that we will continue to support proudly,” Mr. Babetet said in a statement. “I will defend the possibility that all French researchers will be loyal to them, according to the law, wherever they are in the world.”
Mr. Babetest did not specify the world that was removed, but said that the academic was working at the National Center for Scientific Research in France, and he was traveling to a conference near Houston when border officials stopped him.
Mr. Babetst said that the American authorities denied entering the world and then deported him because his phone contains an exchange of messages with colleagues and friends who expressed his “personal opinion” in the science policies in the Trump administration.
It was not immediately clear what prompted the border authorities to stop the world, and why they examined the contents of his phone or what they found rejected on the conversations.
Customs employees are allowed to search on a mobile phone, computer, camera, or any other electronic device for any traveler crossing the boundaries, According to customs and US border protectionAlthough the agency says such cases are rare. In 2024, less than 0.01 percent of international travelers who arrived searched their electronic devices, according to the agency.
Mr. Babetst’s office refused to provide more details about the case. A spokesman for the American embassy in Paris also rejected the comment.
A spokeswoman for the National Center for Scientific Research said that the world who has returned back does not want to speak to the media and refused to comment more.
News Agency in France I mentioned earlier The world refuses to enter the United States.
Mr. Babetst, the minister, was especially explicit during the past few weeks in condemning the threats of academic freedom in the United States, as the discounts in financing and the layoff of the Trump administration targeted the institutions of higher education, scientific research and the scientific workforce of the federal government.
Mr. Babetst urged French universities and research institutes to welcome researchers seeking to leave the United States.
“Europe must be there to protect research and welcome the talent that can contribute to its success,” Mr. Babetst Books on social media After meeting with his European counterparts in Warsaw on Wednesday to address “threats to free research in the United States.”
Jennifer Jones, director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Primary Scholars, a group of advocacy in the United States, said that she is concerned that issues such as French scientists will have a chilling effect on the boundary research cooperation.
“My fear is that these early cases are with a lot to follow up,” said Dr. Jones. “I hear from my network that people are very concerned about any kind of international travel in any of the two directions.”
“This should all worry us,” she added. If the scientists define their movements in the conferences and other events designed to pay the research, she said: “It is the audience who will suffer.”
Ségolène le stradic The reports contributed.
